Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has offered his condolences, thoughts and prayers to the family of former US President Gerald Ford.
Mr Ford died of undisclosed causes in California on Tuesday at the age of 93. He had been in frail health in recent years and suffered a stroke in 2000.
He is survived by four children and his wife of 58 years, Betty Ford.
The Taoiseach described the former US President as a great leader and a great man and said he would be greatly missed.
US President George W Bush praised Mr Ford's quiet integrity, common sense and kind instincts. Mr Bush said he had helped to heal the US and restore public confidence in the presidency following the Nixon controversy.
In California, Nancy Reagan, widow of former president Ronald Reagan, said that Mr Ford's accomplishments and devotion to America were vast.
His death leaves three living former presidents, George HW Bush, Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton.
Unelected president
Gerald Ford had been a Republican Congressman for 26 years when he became US Vice-President in 1973 after then VP Spiro Agnew resigned to avoid prosecution on corruption charges.
The following year he succeeded Richard Nixon, who had resigned over the Watergate scandal, and became the first president not to be elected to the office.
Mr Ford's time in office will remembered for his decision to pardon President Nixon, who had resigned to avoid impeachment for covering up the politically motivated burglary of the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate complex .
In his inaugural address, Mr Ford famously vowed to the US public that 'our long national nightmare is over'.
Mr Ford served as President for two years, surviving two assassination attempts, but was defeated by the Democratic party candidate, Jimmy Carter in the 1976 election.
It was felt that the decision to pardon Richard Nixon had cost him what was one of the closest elections in US history.
Mr Ford had been ailing and largely out of the public eye for several years. He died early on Tuesday morning at his home in Rancho Mirage, California.
